Fortney: Friends, family 'pay it forward' to inspiring Calgarian with terminal illness

Dina Salivan poses on a giant Adirondack chair in front of her house in southwest Calgary on Friday April 28, 2017. Her supporters built a giant 'Pay it Forward' chair with inspirational quotes. Jim Wells//Postmedia

“I’m no Mother Teresa,” says Dina Salivan with a smile. “I can be pretty crusty at times.”

Still, if the past few months are any indication, the 52-year-old Calgarian has been spreading loving kindness in a style that would make the late nun and newly minted saint proud.

Salivan, who is facing down a terminal diagnosis, is the brains, heart and funding behind a “Pay it Forward” campaign that is making waves across the country.

Since she began sending money to friends and family with the request they use it to do something good for others, she’s heard about new refugees receiving free winter clothing, toys bought for underprivileged kids and a woman fighting cancer given a getaway with her daughter, to name just a few.

“It’s keeping me alive,” says Salivan as we sit together in her southwest Calgary home last week. “Just seeing all the kind things people choose to do has been amazing.”

When we meet, Salivan’s friends and neighbours have just unveiled a surprise of their own: on her front lawn, an oversized Muskoka chair built locally, called Dina’s Giving Chair and covered with stories of acts of giving inspired by her.

“We’re hoping that maybe we can eventually relocate it to a local park,” says Joanne Haywood, who has been a friend of Salivan since they were grade school kids in Toronto. “We also hope that it will inspire others to follow Dina’s legacy.”

Dina Salivan’s giant Adirondack chair is shown in front of her house in southwest Calgary on Friday April 28, 2017. Her supporters built a giant ‘Pay it Forward’ chair with inspirational quotes. Jim Wells//Postmedia

It’s an unusual and inspiring story, one that has its roots in something sadly all too common.

Back in 2012, Salivan went for a checkup after feeling unwell. She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, which later spread to her bones and liver.

Last summer, doctors discovered the cancer had also spread to her brain fluid and gave her six months to a year to live. “I know it sounds weird, but I have been really lucky,” says Salivan. “I’m still grateful for the life I’ve had.”

The life she’s lived is indeed one we all wish for. Salivan, who came out west in 1998 with her job in operations with Coca-Cola Canada, has always been surrounded with love and support from family and a fiercely loyal group of friends, many she’s known since childhood.

Last year, she came up with the idea to will approximately $50,000 to more than 70 people, with the request that they use the money for charity or other acts of random kindness. Salivan also earmarked several thousand to go to seniors’ causes.

“Then I thought, ‘Why don’t I just do this now?”’ she says of the decision to send a letter, accompanied by a cheque, to those chosen, rather than after her death, when the will would come into effect.

One of those friends says she immediately knew what she wanted to do. “I lost my son when he was 12,” says Joni Bouchard. “I sent 63 pairs of pyjamas to mothers who have lost children through a charity called the Pajama Project.”

Friend Tammy Coutu, visiting this week from Toronto, helped a refugee family from Angola purchase winter clothing and other necessities. “I also put a request on Facebook for household items, telling them about Dina,” says Coutu.

“Within three days, I had enough to furnish an entire house. This project of Dina’s has snowballed and touched so many lives.”

Not just the lives of those on the receiving end, according to Bouchard. “Dina is teaching us to live,” she says, her eyes tearing up.

Dina Salivan poses with friends from across Canada on a giant Adirondack chair in front of Salivan’s house in southwest Calgary on Friday April 28, 2017. Her supporters built a giant ‘Pay it Forward’ chair with inspirational quotes. Jim Wells//Postmedia

Salivan’s supporters encourage anyone inspired by her story to do an act of random kindness, from a donation to something as simple as helping an elderly person carry their groceries, then post it to Facebook@DinaGivingStories.

The one truly benefiting, according to the courageous woman who came up with the innovative idea, is Salivan herself.

“The beauty and kindness of people has always been there,” says Salivan, who recommends her approach to anyone facing a terminal diagnosis. “If I hadn’t gotten sick, I wouldn’t have seen it.

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